The Game

South Dakota women's basketball hosts Denver at 7 p.m. Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, South Dakota. The game is Coach K's Yippin' Yotes Night.
 
The game will be televised by Midco Sports Network with play-by-play from Jay Elsen and analysis from Brad Newitt. A live stream of the game will also be available on the Summit League Network via the Midco Sports Plus app. A radio broadcast from the Coyote Sports Network with Jerry Palleschi will be available on KVTK 101.5.
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota (13-7, 2-3 Summit) is 7-2 at home and 4-1 following a loss this season. Junior Grace Larkins is one of three players nationally averaging 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game.
 
Fourth-year junior guard Kendall Holmes had a five-game stretch where she went 19-of-39 from deep prior to last Saturday. She's tallied three games of 5+ 3-pointers this season, the 16th time the feat has been accomplished in USD program history. Fourth-year sophomore center Natalie Mazurek is the Coyotes' third-leading scorer in Summit play. She's averaging 10 points and 7.8 rebounds in the last four games.
 

The Pioneers

Denver (4-14, 1-4 Summit) was part of a three-way tie for fifth place in the Summit last season. Emma Smith was honorable mention all-Summit as a freshman and she joined fifth-year Makayla Minett on the preseason all-Summit team. Smith is averaging a team-leading 13.2 points per game this season and has made at least four 3-pointers in a game five times.
 
Only five teams nationally take more 3-pointers than the Pioneers. Denver's shooting percentage from deep (.287) ranks 249th. Smith, Jordan Jones and Emily Counsel are a combined 101-for-322 on threes.
 

The Series

South Dakota leads the series 19-4. Denver got its first win in Vermillion in 11 trips a year ago when the Pioneers used a 25-13 fourth-quarter advantage to win 79-74.
 

Up Next

South Dakota hosts Kansas City at 2 p.m. Saturday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.